When I first heard the term “Military Caregiver Leave,” I thought it was leave for members of the military to care for family emergencies, but that isn’t it at all. Military Caregiver Leave is an extension to the Family and Medical Leave Act, commonly known as FMLA. It authorizes family members of qualified veterans and active duty military personnel to take leave from their jobs to care for the military member or veteran who is injured or ill. To simplify this discussion, I will use the term “servicemember” to mean both active duty military, qualified reservists and qualified veterans. The injury or illness must be serious enough for the servicemember to need a family member’s care for weeks or even months.
Employment Law
WORK-LIFE LAW AND POLICY CLINIC
www.law.asu.edu/worklifeclinic
(480) 727-2382
Prepared by Adam Reich, Student Attorney; Marcy Karin, Faculty Supervisor. Spring 2011. This
document provides general information only. Please consult with an attorney if you need legal advice.
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS: UNIFORMED SERVICES EMPLOYMENT AND REEMPLOYMENT RIGHTS ACT
The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) is a federal law that establishes certain rights and benefits for employees, and duties for employers when employees serve, or have served, as members of the armed forces. This document summarizes some of the rights and obligations related to the employment, reemployment, and retention of servicemembers under USERRA.
Enacted in 1994,1 USERRA provides employees who voluntarily or involuntarily take time off from work to serve in the uniformed services with up to five-years of job and benefits protection. 2
Read more: Know Your Rights: Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act
The United States military is an all voluntary military. To encourage people to volunteer for military service, the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (“USERRA”) provides broad generous protection of service member’s civilian career. USERRA provides for job reinstatement to a civilian job after military service and prohibits job discrimination and retaliation in any employment decision based on military service.
Prepared by Andrea Esquer, Student Attorney, and Marcy Karin, Faculty Supervisor, Fall 2010. This
document provides general information only. Please consult with an attorney if you need legal advice.
OVERVIEW OF ARIZONA’S TIME OFF LAWS FOR MILITARY PERSONNEL
A variety of federal and state laws, policies, and programs provide military personnel (both servicemembers and civilians) in Arizona access to time off from work to fulfill a commitment to the U.S. Armed Services, including the National Guard and Reserve.
This document summarizes state laws that supplement the federal protections.
Read more: Overview of Arizona's Time Off Laws for Military Personnel
Background to The Fair Labor Standards Act of 2016
Since the implementation of the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act, Americans have believed that our democratic way of life requires a fair wage for a hard day’s work. That ideal was realized in the 1938 Act which provided for a minimum wage plus time-and-a-half for workers who worked more than 40 hours a week. These overtime pay rules apply to most hourly workers and to some salaried employees. In the early days, most salaried workers were covered by the law, but as the years went by with few updates to the overtime salary cap, more and more white-collar workers were left out in the cold. They were classified as “exempt” from receiving overtime pay, and they often work many hours of overtime with no extra compensation.
Read more: The Uncertain Future of Overtime Pay for White Collar Workers
An emergency preliminary injunction has prevented this change to go into affect. For more information read "The Uncertain Future of Overtime Pay for White Collar Workers." To learn more about what may happen continuing reading. The Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. 531 et. seq.), requires that most jobs be paid an hourly rate of pay and that these jobs be paid at time-and-a-half the regular rate of pay for hours worked over 40 or more in the employers’ workweek. These jobs are called “hourly” or “non-exempt” jobs.
The terms “employment-at-will” and “right-to-work” are often used in the world of work. Both of these terms describe specific, and separate, state laws regarding employment. Arizona is an employment-at-will state and a right-to-work state. This article explains the difference between these two laws.
Signed into law on October 13, 1994, the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) helps strengthen, and make clear, the Veteran’s Reemployment Rights Statute. The Act can be located in the United States code at Chapter 43, Part III, Title 38 (http://www.dol.gov/vets/usc/vpl/usc38.htm).
Read more: Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)
This interactive website advisor provides one-on-one employment assistance, contact information, and online resources that aid service members who are returning into the civilian workforce.
The interactive website advisor is located at: http://www.dol.gov/elaws/realifelines.htm
Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 (VEVRAA) prevents qualified covered veterans from being discriminated against in the work place, while also encouraging affirmative action practices to employ these individuals.
The VEVRAA is enforced by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), which evaluates a contractor’s affirmative action program and employment practices. In addition, the OFCCP also investigates reported incidents of discriminatory practices by federal contractors and subcontractors
For further questions and inquiry you may want to visit the interactive online Federal Contractor Compliance Advisor at: http://www.dol.gov/elaws/ofccp.htm
The Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, more commonly known as the ESGR is part of the Department of Defense. This department promotes cooperation between Servicemembers and their civilian employers. ESGR understands the unique talents of Servicemembers and helps both parties to the be aware of the rights and responsibilities of the other. They help Servicemembers through job fairs, and the H2H program which allows Servicemembers free access to job searches and other benefits. To learn more about this organization please visit their website at http://esgr.mil/.
Several months ago, I was watching an episode of NCIS, and I saw a segment on Joining Forces. In the NCIS episode, Gibbs meets Michelle Obama at a reception, and they discuss how Joining Forces is helping military spouses and veterans. I became curious and decided to look up information on Joining Forces to learn more about it. Joining Forces is an initiative promoted by the White House and part of the Vow to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 to address the needs of veterans and military families with education programs, job training and placement for veterans and assistance to military families.
Read more: Joining Forces- Promoting Jobs and Education for Veterans and Military Spouses
The year was 1970. My husband and I made the decision to leave the U.S. Air Force and start our lives as a civilian family. For me, the transition was easy. I had been a registered nurse before entering the Air Force, and it was a simple matter to apply at a civilian hospital and get a job. For my husband, it was much more difficult. He had been an Air Force corpsman. His military job entailed starting IVs, applying dressings, putting in stitches, giving injections and all the other technical skills a corpsman learns. When we left the service, my husband quickly learned that none of his military training counted for anything in the civilian world. The only medical job available to him was as a minimum wage orderly – pushing bedpans, changing sheets and taking out the trash. His only option was returning to school and starting over.
WORK-LIFE LAW AND POLICY CLINIC
www.law.asu.edu/worklifeclinic
(480) 727-2382
Prepared by Certified Limited Practice Students, Fall 2010; updated winter 2013.
This document provides general information only. Please consult with an attorney if you need specific legal advice.
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS: HIRING PREFERENCES
FOR VETERANS AND FAMILIES OF SERVICEMEMBERS
This document provides an overview of hiring preferences that benefit veterans and some military family members. It discusses employment with the federal government, Arizona State and local governments, and with federal contractors and subcontractors.
Read more: Know Your Rights: Hiring Preferences for Veterans and Families of Servicemembers
WORK-LIFE LAW AND POLICY CLINIC
www.law.asu.edu/worklifeclinic
(480) 727-2382
Prepared by Adam Reich, Certified Limited Practice Student, Spring 2011. Updated Winter 2013 by Ijana
Harris, Certified Limited Practice Student. Marcy Karin, Faculty Supervisor. This document provides
general information only. Please consult with an attorney if you need legal advice.
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS: THE SERVICEMEMBERS CIVIL RELIEF ACT
The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) postpones or suspends certain civil obligations to enable servicemembers to devote full attention to duty and to relieve stress on family members. This document summarizes some of the SCRA’s key provisions and how servicemembers may exercise their rights under the law.
Read more: Know Your Rights: The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act